Ambassador Donald Steinberg Assumes Position of Special Representative of
the President and Secretary of State for Global Humanitarian Demining
Press Statement, Washington, DC, December 18, 1998
Ambassador Donald K. Steinberg has been named the new Special Representative
of the President and Secretary of State for Global Humanitarian Demining,
replacing Ambassador Karl F. Inderfurth. In this role, Ambassador Steinberg
will advance President Clinton's "Demining 2010 Initiative," designed to
eliminate the threat of landmines to civilians around the world by the end of
the next decade. He will encourage international efforts to accelerate global
mine action efforts, promote mine awareness programs in affected nations,
develop new programs to assist the survivors of landmine accidents, and deepen
the outstanding public-private partnerships now emerging. Ambassador Steinberg
will also enhance existing ties with the United Nations, non-governmental
organizations, and foreign governments that have shown great leadership in the
fight against these hidden killers.
Ambassador Steinberg brings a wealth of experience to this post. As U.S.
Ambassador to Angola from 1995 to 1998, he played a key role in the struggle to
bring peace to that war-torn country, and was honored as the first recipient of
the State Department's Frasure Award for international peace. In Angola, he
helped bring USG agencies, international organizations, and non-governmental
organizations together to work with the government of Angola to ease the
landmine crisis.
Prior to his service in Angola, Ambassador Steinberg served as President
Clinton's Special Assistant for African Affairs and Senior Director for African
Affairs at the National Security Council. Previous to that, he served in
1993-94 as Deputy White House Press Secretary and Senior Director for Public
Affairs at the National Security Council.
Ambassador Steinberg also has extensive service in Congress, serving under a
State Department fellowship as Senior Policy Advisor for Foreign Affairs and
Defense to then-House Majority Leader Richard Gephardt and as Director of the
House Task Force on Trade and Competitiveness. He also served as Acting Chief
Textile Negotiator at the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative from 1988-89.
A career Foreign Service officer with the rank of Minister Counselor,
Ambassador Steinberg has served at U.S. Missions in South Africa, Brazil,
Malaysia, Central African Republic, and Mauritius. In 1994, he was honored
with the Presidential Meritorious Service Award and is a three-time recipient
of the State Department Superior Honor Award.
Ambassador Karl F. Inderfurth is stepping down to devote his energy to his
portfolio as Assistant Secretary of State for South Asia. Ambassador Inderfurth
was appointed Special Representative upon the announcement of the Demining 2010
Initiative in October, 1997. During Ambassador Inderfurth's tenure, the United
States hosted the Washington Conference on Global Humanitarian Demining, which
moved the international community forward on improving coordination of
humanitarian demining activities, with the United Nations as a focal point.
The United States and the European Commission, in coordination with the United
Nations, agreed to work together on a wide range of technological initiatives.
Ambassador Inderfurth oversaw expanded outreach to the private sector,
supporting the long-standing relationship between the Defense Department and
DC Comics which resulted in a new mine awareness comic book for Latin America,
helping to secure U.N. Foundation support for comprehensive surveys of the most
mine-affected countries, and introducing the United Nations Association's
Adopt-a-Minefield concept to other donors.
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